Goodbye to You
by ReluctantSlashFan
Summary: Tony finds closure with Wendy... Title a Michelle Branch song.


**This is a tag to last night's episode 'Secrets' so spoilers ahead...**

**NCIS**

**2001…**

It was raining. Fat, drops beat down on Tony's windshield. His wipers swished back and forth, clearing the glass. Tony wondered just why Wendy called him at his hotel and asked him to come home. Didn't tradition say they had to stay apart the night before the wedding?

He pulled up to their building, digging around in his glove compartment for his pocket umbrella. He couldn't find it, figuring he must have left it at work, and decided to just brave the weather.

He got out of his car, rain soaking him within seconds, and closed his door. He made sure the door was locked before starting towards the building's entrance. He was shivering by the time he made it inside, and was grateful for the warmth the entrance provided.

He gave himself a moment to warm up before he headed towards the stairs, his sneakers making squelching noises with every step he took. The walk up the stairs was brutal-he had spent most of the day chasing leads for Gibbs-and it was times like these he wished the elevator actually worked.

He made it to the third floor in record time, noticing the door to their apartment was open. Tony's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he walked forward, freezing in the doorway.

Bags were sitting by the door, a half filled box was lying on the coffee table, and Wendy herself was standing, waiting, by the couch. Her dark hair was in a pony tail; her dark eyes brighter than usual. A gut feeling hit Tony so severely he nearly doubled over.

"What's wrong?" he asked his usual self-assured voice hoarse.

"I can't do this," she informed him, averting her eyes from his.

"What?"

"This," she repeated gesturing between the two of them. "You and me. I can't."

"Wendy…"

She shook her head, removing the engagement ring from her finger. She crossed the room, holding it out to him, but he shook his head, refusing to take it. "Come on, Tony," she said softly, her voice shaking slightly. "Take it."

"Why are you doing this?" he asked slowly. "What changed your mind?" He wanted to get angry, to scream, to do something, but he was too numb.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and placed the ring in his jacket pocket. "I just can't." She walked past Tony, grabbing her bags from the floor. "I'll come by tomorrow for the rest of my stuff."

She was leaving? Just like that, she was leaving. Why would she say 'yes' to marrying him if she was going to leave? What was the point? And why was he letting her leave without giving him an explanation?

"Wendy," he mumbled turning around. "Wendy!" he called and suddenly he was moving, chasing after her.

He wasn't sure how long he had been standing in their apartment (strike that; _his_ apartment), but it had to have been a good ten minutes. She wasn't on the stairs, and when he crashed through the double doors, skidding to a halt outside, he found her car gone.

Rain continued to pour from the sky as Tony stumbled towards a stone bench, slowly lowering himself onto the seat. Why had this happened? Why did she do this to him?

His vision blurred, and he knew it wasn't because of the rain, but he'd deny it was anything but the rain if anyone asked. He blinked several times, pushing everything back. She was _just_ a girl. He didn't even want to marry her. Marriage would have just tied him down.

He knew he was lying to himself, but it sure beat facing the truth. His fiancée, the woman he had planned to spend the rest of his life with, just called off the wedding. The wedding they had spent months planning; the wedding that was in less than fifteen hours.

But if it kept him from feeling anything, he'd continue to lie to himself. He did not care that Wendy left him, not one bit.

**NCIS**

**Present Day…**

She told him that she hadn't been ready for 'the one' back then; that she had been scared or whatever. That he was her 'one.' _Bullshit, _he thought as he parked in her driveway. She didn't have the right to do that, to lay that crap on him.

He started towards her front door, but froze halfway up the walk. What was he going to say to her? There was no doubt he still had some feelings for her. People didn't tend to make out with their exes if they weren't harboring feelings for them.

But Tony knew he couldn't go back to her. She may have thought he her was 'one,' but she wasn't his. He hadn't found his 'one', hell he doubted she was out there, but he knew Wendy wasn't it.

The door opened, and Tony looked up to see Wendy standing in the entryway, her arms crossed, giving him an expectant look.

"I never actually got over you," he said before he could stop himself. "Which is probably why I tried to replace you with one woman after another. I was hoping if I could get away from your memory, if I could just find someone else, I could forget just how fucked up you made my life." She opened her mouth to say something, she was always so outspoken, but Tony kept talking. "I loved you, Wendy. I did. And I gave you everything I had, and you took it and twisted it because you 'weren't ready for 'the one.'"

"Tony…"

"No, let me get this out," he snapped and she shut her mouth and nodded. "You may think I am your 'one' or whatever. You may think we belong together like some effed up version of Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund but we're more like Edward and Bella. Okay on the surface, but too fucked up for words underneath.

"What I'm trying to say," Tony continued pushing the movie references aside, "is we were wrong for each other back then, Wendy. That is the true reason you left. Not because you weren't ready for me, but because we weren't good for one another."

"Tony…"

"I'm not the only one who lies to them self," he commented slowly, cutting her off. "It was very nice seeing you again, Wendy, but I just can't…" he shook his head. "We can't be together." He turned, heading towards his car.

"Tony, wait," she called and he turned to see her hurrying towards him. She stopped a foot from him, looking up at him. "Do you…?" she trailed off. "Should we…? What now?"

"We say good-bye," he responded and kissed her cheek. "Good bye, Wendy," Tony said and continued towards his car.

"Good-bye, Tony," he heard Wendy reply softly.

He drove home with a heavy heart, but he knew deep down he had done the right thing, despite every moral fiber screaming at him to go back to her, to tell her he had lied. But everything he had said was completely true. He couldn't take back the truth.

Besides, they weren't those people anymore. They could never be those people again. And Tony didn't want to be that person anymore. He had to move on, he couldn't hold onto the past anymore. His 'one' was out there, just like Wendy's was; he just had to find her. And maybe she was closer than he thought…

**NCIS**

**Yeah, I really had to get this out of my system. I'm not sure where the show is going to take Tony and Wendy's relationship, but this is what I hope happens... She was his past, I think he needs to be with someone else now (not naming any names).**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, I do not own Tony or Wendy (though I wouldn't mind the former... kidding :)), and drop a comment.**

**PEACE OUT...**


End file.
